When creating screen saver you can select format of your screen saver using “Save as type” drop down box:
- Screen Saver Installation Package (.exe)
- Screen Saver Installation Package Archive (.zip)
- Screen Saver (.scr)
- Digitally Signed Screen Saver (.scr) with Separate Data (.dat)
Note that security warnings, such as “Windows protected your PC – Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting”, “The publisher could not be verified”, “Open File – Security Warning”, “We can’t verify who created this file” and false-positive reports are sometimes triggered by antivirus software. The reason is because created files are not digitally signed and they consist of executable part and payload (configuration and media files).
Use Digitally Signed Screen Saver (.scr) with Separate Data (.dat) option to avoid those issues.
Please read below detailed information about each screen saver type you can create.
You can also check the article how to deploy screen saver using Group Policy (GPO) or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
Screen Saver Installation Package (.exe)
Screen Saver Installation Package (.exe) has built-in installation procedure which copies all media files (usually to “c:\Program Files (x86)” folder) to target computer and changes Windows default screensaver.
In order to have silent installation (without user interaction) as Windows default screensaver, use /verysilent parameter when starting installation package. E.g. if you have created a file test.exe, use: test.exe /verysilent. To avoid creating icons during the installation add /noicons parameter. See the complete list of setup command line parameters.
For silent uninstallation use /verysilent /norestart, e.g.: “c:\Program Files (x86)\test\unins000.exe” /verysilent /norestart for 64-bit Windows or “c:\Program Files\test\unins000.exe” /verysilent /norestart for 32-bit Windows. See the complete list of uninstaller command line parameters.
Screen Saver Installation Package Archive (.zip)
To distribute screen saver you can use Screen Saver Installation Package Archive (.zip). Such option will actually bundle Screensaver Installation Package into .zip archive. User would open such archive and double-click .exe file to install it.
Screen Saver (.scr)
If your screen saver is generated as a regular Screen Saver (.scr), you need to copy it to appropriate System folder (manually or using GPO), so it can appear in System screen saver list:
- for 64-bit version of Windows (most people have this version): C:\Windows\SysWOW64
- for 32-bit version of Windows: C:\Windows\System32
This is a standalone file, containing all media files required to run.
Digitally Signed Screen Saver (.scr) with Separate Data (.dat)
Digitally Signed Screen Saver (.scr) with Separate Data (.dat) type produces two files: one with .scr and the other with .dat extension.
Such .scr file is already digitally signed, i.e. this ensures its authenticity, integrity and identifies the software publisher as Finalhit. This is the way to avoid security warnings, such as “Windows protected your PC – Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting”, “The publisher could not be verified”, “Open File – Security Warning” and false-positive reports sometimes triggered by antivirus software.
Both .scr and .dat files should be copied to appropriate System folder (manually or using GPO), so it can appear in System screen saver list:
- for 64-bit version of Windows (most people have this version): C:\Windows\SysWOW64
- for 32-bit version of Windows: C:\Windows\System32